Worker Classification And Joint Employment Highlight Wage And Hour Division Regulatory Agenda

July 13, 2026

What's New

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) new regulatory agenda includes several initiatives affecting wage-and-hour compliance, including rulemakings addressing independent contractor classification and joint employer liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The agenda also projects final action on a proposal to remove various codified wage-and-hour policy statements and interpretations from the Code of Federal Regulations. Other initiatives address tipped employees, child labor, domestic service workers, and the rescission of the federal contractor minimum wage regulations.

What It Means

The agenda's most significant items for many employers involve worker classification and joint employer liability. Unlike other WHD initiatives, these issues arise across a broad range of workplace arrangements. The Trump Administration appears focused on replacing recent regulatory approaches with standards it believes provide greater predictability and consistency.

At the same time, employers should recognize that both topics are heavily influenced by judicial interpretation. As a result, the significance of these rulemakings may lie less in changing substantive legal obligations and more in providing guidance as to how WHD evaluates compliance and enforces existing wage-and-hour laws.

What You Should Do

Worker classification and joint employment remain significant drivers of systemic risk in the wage-and-hour context. Employers should monitor the development of these important rules while ensuring that their compliance programs effectively identify and mitigate workplace risk.

A summary of the WHD’s regulatory agenda is available for review by CWC members.

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